United we stand
by msec
Summary: Hogwarts and all it stands for is at risk. Who you gonna call? Dumbledore's Army. The Silver Trio reignite the hope when students need a leader to save them from the Death-Eaters who terrorize them in school and out. Luna, Neville and Ginny don't want the job, but they've got it and now they can't do anything, but try in vain to protect their friends.


When the scarlet Hogwarts Express pulled to a stop at Platform 9 ¾, the only person there was the infamous Luna Lovegood. She was sitting on her large trunk, staring at the clouds over head, looking serene and patient. Purple and gray leggings covered her legs, which crossed over at the ankles. She looked so graceful that if not for her surroundings and her attire, she would have appeared royalty.

"Luna!" A voice called out to her and she turned with a soft smile playing on her lips as if she had been expecting the boisterous boy all along.

"Hullo Neville. Are you here alone?" Luna noticed that while her head had been turned upwards, people had begun streaming onto the Platform without her paying them any heed. The platform, although it was the beginning of another exciting year at Hogwarts, was quieter than usual. Most conversations were being kept to whispers and the tearful goodbyes were laced with more worry than usual.

"Yeah, my gran couldn't make it this year," said Neville, "She's away on a business trip."

"That's too bad," said Luna sincerely, "I hope she hasn't gone to Bath. There's an infestation of Glumby Picklehorns that are simply terrorized the people there. Of course, they must be confused, poor muggles wont even know what they are…" She trailed off vaguely, noticing a somber looking Seamus Finnigan walk past them onto the train. Dean wasn't there to meet him as he usually did on the first day of the school year.

"So, have you seen anyone else yet? I'll bet that Ginny, Harry, Ron and Hermione all come together again this year. But you know the Weasley's, never on time." Neville laughed at his ill attempted joke to lighten his mood. He couldn't tell Luna while they were out in the open, but things were going to be very different this year at Hogwarts. Gran had owled him a week earlier, warning him that he would have to be ready to leave Hogwarts at the first sign of trouble.

"Ginny? Right behind you." murmured Luna.

Neville turned around to see the vibrant witch giving her father a hug goodbye before pulling her trunk towards them. But the rest of them weren't there. Where was Mrs. Weasley, bawling her eyes out as she sent her youngest son and daughter off to Hogwarts? Where was Ron for that matter? Harry, Hermione, none of them had accompanied Ginny and her father to the platform.

"Come on," said the cheery ginger haired witch, pulling Neville's arm, leading the trio towards the train, "Don't just stand there looking stupid, let's _go_." She led Neville with quite of bit of force towards an empty compartment, pushing through the hoard of underclassmen loitering in the aisle. One of the kids that had been moved to clear a path whispered to his classmate with antsy speed, but Neville heard a few words from what the boy had hissed. They were talking about them and Harry as well. When he heard the words Loony Lovegood, he chose to whip his head around threateningly. "Don't call her that. It's Luna."

"Oh, that's nothing to be concerned about Neville. I'm sure it was a slip of them tongue. Besides, it's just a word." Luna smiled even wider, "That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet."

Of course Neville, being a pureblood with a history of Gryffindor children didn't have any idea what she was talking about. Gryffindors were rarely as invested in learning about literature as Ravenclaws tended to be, even muggle literature.

"Did you know that William Shakespeare was a squib?" asked Luna thoughtfully, looking right at Neville, making him look away shyly.

"I had no idea. Who's William?"

Their conversation continued on with Luna philosophizing the incontestable existence of the Crumple-Horned Snorkack while Neville listened politely and Ginny ignored them both in her search for a place to sit in peace. When Ginny found a compartment she hustled the dotty blonde and the awkward herbologist in before slamming the door with enough force to rattle the glass inside it. She whipped out her wand and cast a spell that caused the shutters on the door and the window to shut out all light.

"_Muffliato"_

"Well it's awfully dark in here…" said Luna curiously.

"_Lumos,_" said Ginny, illuminating her serious features. Looking to Neville she said, "Neville, you still got your fake galleon?"

"Yeah, I've got it in my bag, why?"

"Here, let's trade." Ginny handed him a different fake galleon, "This is the Master Galleon. You'll be able to send messages from it to all the other galleons that the D.A. members've got. Just numbers though, for dates and times to meet up."

Neville looked at the new seemingly ordinary galleon. "Ginny, this belongs to Harry. I can't take it, he might need it."

"Oh trust me, he's not going to need to keep in touch with Dumbledore's Army for a while." Ginny looked even more miserable.

Silence filled the darkness, suffocating the three D.A. soldiers before Luna's voice was heard again from the shadows. "They're not coming back this year."

It was not a question it was a statement. The undeniable truth hung in the air and Neville began to look slightly panicked. He didn't know how they were going to survive if things were as bad as Gran had made them out to be. Surely the teachers of Hogwarts wouldn't let Voldemort's followers get into the school. He felt his palms getting sweaty as they always did when he was anxious, which for Neville Longbottom was most of his life.

"Well I guess this means that Dumbledore's Army isn't disbanded quite yet," said Neville fiddling with the Master Galleon in his hand, "And I suppose we'll be the three leaders?"

"I prefer to think generals," said Ginny, finally pulling a grin, "We _are_ at war you know."

**Let me know what you think of this as an introduction to another D.A. fanfiction. Please, please, please review this, and don't be afraid to be harsh. I'm a big kid now; I can take criticism and build from it. Think it was boring? Unrealistic? TELLLL ME. Seriously, I'll love you forever.**


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